Fruit Salad
by Risa Rage
Summary: All they had to do was prepare lunch. Was that too much to ask? Albel x Fayt.


Words: 1511

Time taken: Four and a half hours --;;

Thanks to Mrs. Nox for requesting it, Lutra Sun-shi for her suggestion, and AsterSyn for beta-ing for me

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It was a beautiful day in Peterny, but the nice weather was doing nothing for Sophia's mood. The group had just split up to get various errands done, and while she didn't have a problem helping Maria shop for medicine and first aid items, she was worried about how other members of the party would get along.

"Um… are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophia looked up at Maria, a worried look on her face.

"Is what a good idea?" Maria replied. Busily reading over a list of items, she pulled a clinking bag from the pouch on her belt. "You mean having Fayt and Albel put our lunches together?" She turned to Sophia and sighed. "I know neither of them is that great at cooking, but Mayu's in the workshop today, and she'll—"

"No, that's not what I meant," Sophia said, shaking her head. "It's just Mister, um, Albel—" She was interrupted but a crash of pots and pans in the building behind her, followed by an angry shout of "ALBEL!" The girls stepped back as raucous laughter rang out and a young woman with short brown hair rushed out the door, sobbing loudly.

"Wait, Mayu!" A blue-haired teenager hurried after her, stopping when he saw the girls staring at him from the street. "Everything's fine! You can go now!" Fayt growled, his face turning red. He turned and stomped back into the workshop, slamming the door behind him.

"…" Sophia gave Maria a glum look. Maria put up a hand to ward her off and started to walk away.

"I don't want to hear it. Those two will get their job done or I'll get Mirage to deal with them." Sophia nodded unhappily and followed. If there was anyone that could intimidate even Albel the Wicked, it was Mirage. She wasn't quite sure why—Mirage seemed like a quiet and calm person, and she was always nice to Sophia—but she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"I just don't understand," Sophia said, trotting behind Maria as they made their way down the street to the main square. "Why can't Mr. Albel get along with anyone? We're supposed to be working together, so we should all try to get along, but he's just so… mean." She bit her lip. She couldn't think why Albel would dislike her so much; she had barely even spoken to him since she met him aboard the Diplo.

Maria slowed to a stop and turned to face her with a sigh. "That's just the way he is," she tried to explain. "It has a lot to do with his background, and, well, he _is_ a soldier." She tried not to get annoyed as Sophia gazed up at her blankly. Sophia was a sweet girl, but… sometimes her naivety and trusting nature became a little irritating.

Maria had had a pretty tough childhood. Any illusions she may have had about life had been stripped away at a very early age, and therefore she had little patience for anyone who persisted in clinging to theirs. The restraint she showed towards Sophia was mostly because she thought that Fayt probably wouldn't appreciate if she crushed his childhood friend's spirit. She tried to think of way to explain things in a way that Sophia could understand—and failed. "I know he's hard to understand, but you should probably avoid him if you can."

Sophia pouted. "Why? Fayt seems to able to handle him—in fact, Fayt is the only one he isn't mean to all the time."

Maria tried not to smirk. She had a pretty good idea why that was, and it also probably had something to do with why Albel disliked Sophia so intensely, but she didn't want to say anything until she was sure. And even then she probably wouldn't tell Sophia. "Why don't you ask Fayt later?" Oh, that would make him squirm. She only hoped she could be there to see it.

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"What the HELL was that about?" Fayt said, trying to keep his voice down. It was hard enough to keep his temper with Albel leaning casually against a counter across the room, tapping on the hilt of his katana with a smug grin on his face. "You do realize this is going to take a considerably longer amount of time without Mayu helping us?"

"Like that squeaking wench would have got anything done. She was too busy making silly eyes at you and sighing disgustingly whenever you spoke."

Fayt blinked. _What the hell is he talking about? _ "Uh, right. And the fact that you were breathing down her neck helped so much." He glared at Albel as he started pulling packages of food out of an insulated cupboard—_how come_ _they don't have electricity but they have refrigeration?_ he wondered briefly. Just another one of those unexplained mysteries, like Welch's inventor communicator. "Will you get over here?" He glanced over at Albel, who made no sign of having heard him—in fact, he seemed to be more interested in inspecting some engineering tools that someone had left out. Fayt gritted his teeth and stalked over to a counter with a sink, dropping the ingredients unceremoniously in a pile.

_Why does Albel have to make everything so difficult? _He picked up a paring knife and started peeling an apple. _ If he would just_—his train of thought was cut off at he felt a presence at his back. "Dammit, Albel, what—"

A hand and a claw came down onto the counter on either side of him, preventing him from turning around. "You don't seem to have a problem with me being near you, Leingod," Albel purred into his ear. Fayt shivered and tried to ignore the goosebumps rippling down his skin.

"Personal space, ever heard of it?" he bit out, trying to ignore the heat from the body standing way too close behind him. He jumped and dropped his knife as a cold metal claw traced down his arm. Spinning around, he was startled to find Albel's face only inches from his own. The smugness was gone from his smile and had been replaced by something more intense, almost… feral. Fayt flushed as he met Albel's intense gaze. "D-do you mind?"

Albel leaned in until his nose was almost touching Fayt's. "Do you?" he breathed.

A moment stretched between them that felt like forever as a million things ran through Fayt's mind. For a minute he found it hard to breathe as each thought clamored for attention, and then, suddenly, they all disappeared. His mind was completely clear as he slowly, silently shook his head no.

One thought drifted by as Albel's mouth descended onto his. _We're never going to get lunch done now…_

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"…so I suppose it is odd, but I wouldn't tell them that to their faces," Mirage was saying to Sophia as she entered the workshop, both of them followed by Cliff, Nel, Maria, Roger and Pepita. Each of them carried bags or packages of the supplies they had all picked up.

"Hey Fayt, we gotcha some new armor," Roger piped excitedly, running forward, and then coming to a stop. He watched Fayt hurriedly spooning something from a large bowl into individual containers. His hair and clothes were mussed, his cheeks were red, and he was pointedly not looking up at them. "Aren'tcha done yet?"

Cliff frowned as he strode forward and peered into the bowl. "What's this? We were gone two hours and all you could come up with was fruit salad?" He looked up as Maria stifled a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," she choked.

Cliff glanced at Mirage, but she just shook her head with a small smile on her face. Sophia and Roger looked baffled. He looked to where Albel was lounging by the sink. "Did you do something?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Me? I've just been here _helping_ Fayt," Albel replied with a smirk. Fayt made a strangled noise and put down his spoon with a clatter.

"Alright, everybody come get their lunch," he said a little more loudly than necessary. He retreated as everyone stepped up to take the food.

Maria sidled over to Fayt as everyone chattered over their food and the items they had picked up during their shopping. "You might want to pull up your collar a little higher," she suggested quietly, so only he could hear. She hid a smile as he quickly adjusted the collar of his vest to hide the small purple marks on his neck, his blush deepening. She glanced at Albel, noting the heated stare he was giving Fayt, and leaned over. "And your boxers are sticking up out of the back of your pants," she whispered. She straightened up and walked over to compliment Nel on the bargain she had gotten on several charms, not even bothering to hide her grin this time.

Oh yes, it had been fun to watch him squirm. And she had the feeling that things were about to get even more interesting.

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